Rescued Cleveland women 'happy and safe,' attorneys say

By Dominique Dodley, CNN

Updated 1:27 AM ET, Thu May 23, 2013

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Photos:Photos: Kidnapped teens rescued

Kidnapped teens found decade later – Amanda Berry speaks in a video released on YouTube on Monday, July 8, thanking people for support and privacy. Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight escaped from a Cleveland home on May 6, 2013, after being held captive for nearly a decade.

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Photos:Photos: Kidnapped teens rescued

Kidnapped teens found decade later – Amanda Berry vanished a few blocks from her Cleveland home on April 21, 2003. She was 16.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Gina DeJesus speaks in the YouTube video.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Georgina "Gina" DeJesus was last seen in Cleveland on April 2, 2004, on her way home from school. She was 14 when she went missing.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Michelle Knight speaks in the YouTube video.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Knight was last seen on August 22, 2002, when she was 21.

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Photos:Photos: Kidnapped teens rescued

Photos: Kidnapped teens found decade later – In a handwritten note, Knight thanked Cleveland police for their efforts, saying she was overwhelmed with the support she had received from "complete strangers." The note was posted Wednesday, July 31, on the police's Second District Community Relations Committee Facebook page.

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Photos:Photos: Kidnapped teens rescued

Kidnapped teens found decade later – Residents gather outside a community meeting at Immanuel Lutheran Church on Thursday, May 9, to talk about the kidnapping case in Cleveland. Balloons were released as part of the ceremony.

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Photos:Photos: Kidnapped teens rescued

Kidnapped teens found decade later – FBI agents and other law enforcement officers stand outside suspect Ariel Castro's home in Cleveland on May 9. Castro, a former school bus driver, has been accused of holding three women captive for a decade in his house. He has also been charged with rape.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Castro hangs his head low while talking with his public defender, Kathleen DeMetz, during his arraignment on May 9.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Ada Colon prays during a vigil held in honor of the kidnapping victims in Cleveland on Wednesday, May 8.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Relatives of kidnapping victim Georgina "Gina" DeJesus hug after she returned to her parents' home in Cleveland on May 8.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Friends and neighbors cheer as a car carrying Amanda Berry arrives at her sister's house in Cleveland on May 8.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Gina DeJesus gives a thumbs up as she arrives at her family's house in Cleveland on May 8.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Ariel Castro was charged on May 8 with kidnapping the three women.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – The family house of Gina DeJesus has been decorated by well-wishers on Tuesday, May 7.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Friends and relatives gather in front of the family house of DeJesus on May 7.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Well-wishers visit the home of the sister of Amanda Berry on Monday, May 6.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Investigators remove evidence from the house on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland where the three women were held.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – An FBI forensics team meets outside the house where three women were held as they investigate the property.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – An FBI forensics team member removes evidence from the house.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – A relative of DeJesus brings balloons to the home of Amanda Berry's sister in Cleveland on May 7.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Children hold a sign and balloons in the yard of Gina DeJesus' family home in Cleveland on May 7.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Bystanders and media gather on May 7 along Seymour Avenue in Cleveland near the house where the three women were held captive.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – A bystander shows the front page of The Plain Dealer newspaper to a friend outside of the house on Seymour Avenue on May 7.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Cleveland Deputy Chief of Police Ed Tomba, center, speaks at a news conference to address details of the developments.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – The house where the three women were held captive in Cleveland was the home of Ariel Castro, who was arrested and is being held pending charges in the case.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – FBI agents remove evidence from the house May 7.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – A police officer stands in front of the broken front door of the house on May 7, where the kidnapped women escaped.

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Kidnapped teens found decade later – Neighbor Charles Ramsey talks to media as people congratulate him on helping the kidnapped women escape on Monday, May 6. He helped knock down the door after he heard screaming inside.

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Story highlights

Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus are still healing, they say

Lawyers call outpouring of public support "nothing short of remarkable"

They say the women are thankful for $650,000 from more than 6,800 donors

The women were rescued this month after allegedly being held captive for close to a decade

Three women who were rescued this month after being held captive in a Cleveland house for close to a decade "are happy and safe," and overwhelmed by the public's support, their attorneys said in a statement released Wednesday.

"They are happy and safe and continue to heal, a process that requires time and privacy," attorneys Kathy Joseph, Heather Kimmel, Henry Hilow and James Wooley said.

Berry, 27; DeJesus, 23; and Knight, 32 -- and a 6-year-old daughter born to Berry in captivity -- were found alive on May 6 in a Cleveland home, police said. The women are believed to have been abducted years ago -- in 2002, 2003 and 2004 -- and held captive at the home of Ariel Castro, 52, according to police.

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Castro was charged with kidnapping and rape after Berry escaped from the home with the aid of neighbors, authorities said.

The attorneys said that the outpouring of public support -- including donations to the Cleveland Courage Fund, which the lawyers say will be used to establish trusts to aid the three women and Berry's daughter -- "has been nothing short of remarkable."

"To have complete strangers offer loving support in the form of money, goods and services, reaching out to help like a family member, is appreciated in ways that are impossible to put into words," the lawyers said. "Amanda, Gina and Michelle, who have asked for nothing, are frankly overwhelmed by it all.

"You have touched their hearts in ways they will never forget. So again, they collectively say 'Thank you. Thank you so much!' "

The fund has collected a total of $650,000 from more than 6,800 donors, according to Hennes Paynter Communications, which is representing the women.